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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0224.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 8, 1934 ATTITUDE OF THE RAILWAYS 1 UKING the past two weeks the main railway com- panies have held thei r annual general meetings. Last week we quoted the terms in which Sir Josiah Stamp, of the London Midland & Scottish Com- pany referred to the recently formed air-rail combine, with Imperial Airways. We expressed our views on this matter very iully in a leader on the subject. This week we quote from the speeches made at the meetings of the Southern Kailway and the Great Western Railway. Nothing con- cerning the air was said at the meeting of the London & North Eastern Kailway, at which Mr. William Whitelaw presided. Mr. Gerald E. Loder, Chairman of the Southern Kailway Company made the following references which emphasised the protectionist nature of the combine: — " . . . Notwithstanding more intensive competitionby air, we carried 174,000 more passengers by our own cross-Channel and Channel Islands services. . . . Wehave been carefully watching the development of transport by air, particularly its present and potential effect uponour traffic. We are already suffering from a diversion of our cross-Channel traffic, particularly between London andParis, and to a small extent in our Channel Islands traffic, and the time has arrived when some definite action shouldbe taken to protect our interests. In co-operation with the other main line railway companies and Imperial Airways wehave decided to make the necessary arrangements for pro- viding, if need be, such air transport services as we andthe other railway companies may think fit to establish, and 1 wish to assure you that everything possible will bedone in this direction to safeguard your interests. . . ." Mr. Leslie Boyce (discussing the Chairman's report) saidthat the railways had often been criticised for their depres- sion in consequence of their not having anticipated someeight or ten years ago the development of road transport. It could not be said that the railways had not got in earlyin respect of air transport. . . Sir Kobert Home, Chairman of the Great Western Kail-way Company, dealt with the matter in a more constructive spirit, constructive, that is, from the development of airservices point of view : — " . . . A new item appears in this account—namely,air transport. This experimental service caused a loss for the year of £6,526, but it gave us cheaply-purchased experi-enci- which will be of benefit to us in the future. . . A more recent and more dramatic development of thia spiritof combined operation is in connection with a projected air service. In this sphere of activity the Great Westernhas done some experimental work, as you learned from an earlier paragraph of my speech. Since we obtained Parlia-mentary Powers in 1929 to operate air-transport services, vrf have been carefully watching the development of theaeroplane as a means of transport and the steps taken by municipal and other authorities to provide terminal facili- ties which form such an essential part of this mode ottransport. Considerable progress has been made, but much remains to be done before the aeroplane becomes a travelunit in this country capable of being operated on an economic basis. We recognise that some time may stillhave to elapse before this latter state of affairs is achieved, but the steady augmentation in the number of passengerstravelling by air, the great development in speed of air- craft, and the growth in the number of companies associat-ing themselves with this movement are definite signs of progress and ' air-mindedness,' which we would notignore if we could. We felt, therefore, that the time had arrived for us to test the public demand for air-travelfacilities, and we accordingly inaugurated the route between Birmingham, Cardiff, Torquay and Plymouth in conjunc-tion with Imperial Airways, Limited. It was in the nature of an experiment, but it has afforded us very useful datafor determining future policy. One of the principal factors which influenced us in selecting the route was that itenabled travellers between Birmingham, South Wales and Devonshire to effect a considerable saving of time. Butthe high cost of providing adequate terminal facilities entailed a heavy loss on the company, and unless a greatermeasure of co-operation in this respect is accorded by local interests those who assume the responsibility andbear the expense of running the machines may be dis- couraged from extending the service. There is no doubtin our minds that the solution of the problem of the proper sphere of the aeroplane in relation to the othertransport systems of this country lies in taking into view the British Isles as a whole and not considering merely thecomparatively narrow area of each individual railway com- pany's territory. As you will have seen from the recentannouncement in the Press, the four main-line railway companies have entered into an agreement with ImperialAirways, Ltd., for the formation of an independent com- pany, with a nominal capital of £50,000, for the purpose ofdeveloping services in the British Isles and linking up with the existing services operated by Imperial Airways, Ltd.Its functions will be to provide and operate such machines as the companies may require for any service which theydesire to provide either individually or jointly. Under the proposed arrangements I anticipate that you will find indi-vidual railway companies operating services on particular routes peculiar to their own spheres of activity, and inother instances one or more companies combining to develop a route in which they are jointly interested. Itis a feature of these agreements that the railway companies will have the advantage of all the experience accumulatedby Imperial Airways, Ltd., and the benefit of their advice and skill in acquiring the necessary machines. Although anarrow island such as ours does not afford great scope for extended air services we shall hope in the course of timeto provide the public with the greatest facilities for transport by air that the conditions permit." AIRPORT NEWS CROYDON ONCE upon a time spring did not start at the Airportof London until long after the first cuckoo hadbeen heard on the aerodrome, but that was in thetimes when nightingales sang every night from .copses which have now been replaced by boundary fencesof chequerboard black and white. To-day spring starts on March 1, with the inauguration of spring time-tables forsome companies. This year K.L.M. started March with a 7.0 a.m. departure from Croydon to link Berlin withLondon and to allow passengers, if need be, to return to London the same evening after having spent some 3£ hoursin Herr Hitler's capital. This means a service leaving Berlin at 4.0 p.m. and flying via Amsterdam to arrive atCroydon after dark, at 8.30 p.m. This, with the D.L.H. 0.45 a.m. departure from Croydon for Berlin and thearrival from that city at 1.45 p.m., gives Berlin and London quite convenient connections. Imperial Airways, Ltd., also inaugurated a late departurefor Paris about the same date and an after-dark arrival at 9.4S p.m., which, by a curious coincidence is overhead toths minute, as I write these lines. There are people, I am told, who fly by these nightservices for choice because of the attraction of flying over rapidly darkening country and of seeing towns and railwaylines lit up. There are even passengers, I am informed by those who attend to passengers passing through the airport,who iind a thrill in night landings with the searchlights on, and the floodlights illuminating, the tarmac as theydisembark. This latter word, by the way, with due respect to our touchy aeronautical purists, is a better word than" disemplane." On these night services loads are astonishingly good, considering that it usually takes peoplea week or more to realise they are in existence. The truth is we do not sufficiently advertise their commence-ment, and some, communal advertising amongst air traffic companies on the " Eat more fish " idea would wsherspring and summer services in with maximum effect and minimum expense for all concerned. On Saturday, March 3, we had a visitation by airof directors and supporters of Aston Villa, 38 of them in all. They were accommodated in one Avro 10, two Air-speed " Ferries " and two " Fox Moths " from the fleet of Midland & Scottish Air Ferries, and very spick and spanthe silver and red machines looked. Trie visiting pilots were Sqd. Ldr. Malet and Messrs. Mavrogocteto, Parkes, 224
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